Wed, May 04, 2011

Interesting Facts About Our Skin

As the largest organ of the human body, skin is also the easiest to take care of. We exfoliate, moisturize, and lather with sunscreen daily, diligently searching for those telltale signs of aging. Why do we have skin? Why is its care so important?

Our skin is a highly efficient self-repairing barrier that's main functions are to protect us from infection and regulate our body temperature. Composed of three main layers, our skin is continually regenerating. The outermost layer of skin, known as the epidermis, serves as our main barrier to infection. It consists of 25 to 30 layers of dead cells.

Here are some fun facts about our skin!:

~ The skin sheds approximately 40,000 dead skin cells every minute, so by the age 70 the average person will have lost about 105 pounds of skin.
~ Skin is the thichest on the soles of the feet and thinnest on the eyelids.
~ The skin contains blood which regulates the body's temperature.
~ The most common skin conditions are calluses, acne, dandruff, dry skin, skin cancer and cellulite.
~ The skin emits up to 3 gallons of sweat per day.
~ Your head contains the most hair follicles and the soles of the feet have no skin follicles at all.
~ The skin contains 45 miles of nerves.
~ The body has about 3 million sweat glands.
~ The skin expands in thickness from approximately 1mm in babies to 2 mm in adults.
~ The lip skin has a pigmented reddish tinge because it is very thin and the blood vessels show through.
~ Drinking lots of water is the best way to increase the body's moisture level.
~ Collagen is what determines how smooth the skin is.
~ Your skin contains a protein called keratin which is also found in hair and nails.
~ Goose bumps are actually little pimples that help retain a layer of warm air over our body.

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